Bhutanese refugees have appealed Nepal government to negotiate with Bhutan government for their repatriation.

Submitting a memorandum to Home Minister Shakti Basnet on Tuesday, Bhutan Independent Peoples’ Forum (BIPF) urged Nepal government to raise the Bhutanese issue of Bhutanese refugees at Saarc and other international forums.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has deducted subsistence allowances it has been providing to refugees in Nepal, citing large-scale emergency refugee operations in other parts of the world.

Similarly, the World Food Programme has also announced cut down on the food commodities.

After resettlement of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in third countries, there are around 18,000 refugees in the camp.

According to Dil Mahat, spokesperson of the BIPF, around 7,000 refugees are willing to be resettled in third countries, while the remaining want to go back home.

Condition of Rohingya refugees stable

KATHMANDU: Condition of Rohinga refugees, who were admitted to the TU Teaching Hospital on Tuesday, is stable.

 Hamid Husain, 21, and Rafiq Alam, 22, were taken ill while staging fast-unto-death outside the building of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Husain and Alam along with Hasan Hasan, 23, and Nami Uddin, 25, were staging the hunger strike since December 1 after the UNHCR reduced their subsistence allowance in, citing the refugee crisis in different parts of the world.

Hasan and Uddin are still staging the strike despite their failing health. They have demanded food, financial support and resettlement opportunities.